The present invention relates generally to cooking utensils adapted to hold food while exposing it to a source of heat, and more particularly to those utensils capable of supporting food over an outdoor fire and equipped with food-impaling tines.
In the past, hand-held barbecue spits capable of supporting numerous food items simultaneously have tended to be either unwieldy, undependable and/or difficult or clean. In fact, many outdoor cooks dispense with a hand-held, food-supporting utensil altogether and rely solely on a grill whose distance from the fire is adjustable only within a limited range, if at all. Absent a portable supporting device, however, one must employ some kind of poker or spatula to move each food item separately relative to the source of heat.
The closest prior art known to the inventor is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,183,938 issued Dec. 19, 1939 to Lewis.
The Lewis patent discloses a hand-held utensile whose elongated wire handle is detachably connected to a pair of disks between which are clamped radially outwardly projecting sets of U-shaped tines. In contrast, the present barbecue spit is equipped with pairs of tines that may be detached readily from a slotted, annular head or loop for ease in cleaning, storage and shipping. In addition, the open loop construction at the operative end of the spit minimizes the accumulation of grease and charred food particles.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present hand-held barbecue spit comprises basically an elongated, substantially rigid frame formed at one end with a handle-supporting terminal and at its opposite end with an annular, tine-supporting loop; a handle carried by the handle-supporting terminal of the frame; and a plurality of generally U-shaped forks that are readily removable from the tine-supporting loop. The forks are carried demountably in relatively spaced apart openings formed in the tine-receiving loop and are formed with elongated, split-like prongs that extend generally radially from said loop.
Preferably, each of the U-shaped forks is resiliently flexible and is formed with a pair of relatively opposing, offset catches for springing engagement with portions of the loop bordering the tine-receiving openings. In addition, the present invention may be provided with a plurality of resilient clips, each of which is detachably connectable to the loop and is formed at one end with a fork-engaging detent and at its opposite end with a pair of stabilizing legs extending in spaced, generally coplanar relation to the prongs of said U-shaped fork.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a hand-held barbecue split that is easily disassembled for cleaning and storage.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a hand-held barbecue spit capable of positively supporting a plurality of food items without becoming unwieldy.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a hand-held barbecue spit that facilitates the transfer of heat to the food impaled thereon and thereby reduces cooking time.
Further objects and advantages of the present hand-held barbecue spit may become apparent following an appreciation of the following drawings and description of the invention.